Syria: Committee investigating the events in Sweida requests a two-month extension of its work.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Follow-ups

The investigation committee, commissioned by the Syrian authorities to look into the events of violence in the Suwayda Governorate, announced that it has not been able to enter the city for more than four months, and requested an extension of its work for an additional two months to complete the investigations. The head of the committee, Hatem al-Naasan, said during a press conference on Sunday that the committee had listened to about 800 testimonies, but it had not reached some areas due to time constraints and access restrictions, stressing that extending the period is necessary to submit a comprehensive legal report that is fair to all parties. Al-Naasan added that the committee had submitted legal requests to arrest a number of army and security personnel who were found to be involved in violations during the events, and based on clips published on social media, they were arrested and referred to the competent judiciary. He pointed out that the foreign fighters who entered Suwayda joined individually, without there being an organized division of the Syrian army. These developments come after months of bloody clashes that began on July 13, 2025, between Druze and Bedouin militants, resulting in the death of about 2,000 people, including 789 Druze civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Despite reaching a ceasefire agreement, tensions and near-daily confrontations continued between government forces and local factions, with the use of drones, heavy machine guns, and shells, which contributed to the worsening humanitarian situation due to the scarcity of basic materials, power outages, and fuel shortages.